Cohoes woman seeks public’s help in bringing bird home

COHOES >> A local pet owner has been suffering from a mild case of empty nest syndrome ever since her 26-year-old parrot went missing two weeks ago. She is offering a “substantial” reward for the bird’s safe return.

While Pete, a green and yellow parrot with hints of blue around his eyes and orange on his wings, had never flown away from home before, he now seems to be enjoying an extended jaunt around the Capital District in the prime of his life. There have been sightings of the bird on Cohoes Avenue and Peebles Island, but owner Cathy Komertz has not yet found her bird, which she has owned for the better part of a quarter of a century.

Komertz never had a bird before she adopted Pete, who was two-years-old at the time. Now, she can’t imagine life without him.

“It’s weird. It’s been so many years with him, it was strange not to have a bird in the house,” she said.

Komertz just bought a cockatoo to try to fill the quiet void that Pete left.

“It was too quiet. I needed a bird in the house again.”

Komertz is utilizing every resource to find her parrot, including the local Parrot Society. While she has received emails and phone calls from complete strangers with tips on the bird’s whereabouts, she hasn’t had any success in bringing him home yet.

She described her bird as “funny” and “friendly.” Pete, she said, sometimes thinks he’s a dog and, at home, he would walk on the floor with her small dogs, bark like a dog, and even nibble their food.

While Pete was always kept out of his cage, this is the first time in 24 years that he has flown away. Komertz guesses that something scared him and he flew out of her home through an open window. She resides in a neighborhood near the Cohoes Falls.Komertz worries about her bird’s resilience to the cold, but she has been told by folks in the Capital Region Parrot Society that these birds have been known to survive for weeks in cold weather.Anyone who has heard “strange noises” around Peebles Island or has other information regarding Pete’s whereabouts may call Komertz at 258-4381.